Spray blast cleaning cabinet



May 4, 1954 Filed May 25, 1950 J. L. FISHER SPRAY BLAST CLEANING CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 John L Fisher INVENTOR.

May 4, 1954 Filed May 25, 1950 J. L. FISHER SPRAY BLAST CLEANING CABINET 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

John L. Fisher INVENTOR.

y 4, 1954 J. L. FISHER ,67 81 SPRAY BLAST CLEANING CABINET Filed May 25, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 John L. Fisher IN V EN TOR.

Patented May 4-, 1954 SPRAY BLAST CLEANING CABINET John L. Fisher, Harlingen, Tex., assignor to Spray-Blast Corporation of America, Harlingen, Tex, a corporation of Texas Application May 25, 195%), Serial No. 164,150

1 Claim. 1

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a spray blast cleaning cabinet and more specifically pertains to an apparatus especially designed for expeditiously cleansing mechanical parts of grease and the like.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an apparatus to facilitate the degreasing and cleansing of machinery parts in a more thorough and expeditious manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cleansing apparatus in conformity with the preceding object which shall clean and reclaim for further use the cleansing fluid employed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cleansing apparatus embodying a spray chamber and having a blower for discharging or venting vapor from the cabinet.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved cleansing apparatus which shall have a closure for the cleansing fluid tank together with means for closing the tank to the interior of the device when the same is subjected to a dangerous temperature.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of the invention, which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing from the front a cleansing apparatus incorporating the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the cabinet of Figure 1, parts being broken away;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the drip chamber of the cabinet, being taken substantially in the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the cabinet taken substantially in the planes indicated by the broken section line i-4 of Figure 2 Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane of section line 5-5 of Figure 3 and illustrating the construction of the resilient closing means for the movable section of the cleansing fluid tank;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 66 of Figure 2;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary perspective View showing certain details of the blower, its driving motor and the mounting for the same;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing the movable cover of the cabinet in its closed position; and

Figure 9 is a -fragmentary group assembly View in perspective showing a removable filter in accordance with this invention and a supporting sleeve for the same.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be seen that a cleansing apparatus incorporating therein the principles of this invention is illustrated as including a cabinet or housing H} which may be economically constructed of lightweight sheet metal or any other suitable material, the same having a supporting grating I2 extending horizontally across the interior thereof to divide the cabinet into an upper spray chamber M and a lower drip or drain chamber I 6. The front of the spray chamber M is preferably open as shown in Figure 1, while a removable closure id of any desired construction is provided for the front of the drain chamber 6.

The cabinet It includes a back wall 263 which upon its exterior surface is provided with a supporting bracket 22 upon which is mounted an electric motor or the like 24 provided with electrical connections not shown, by means of which the motor may be powered from any suitable electric source of power. Likewise secured to the back wall 20, upon the interior of the spray chamber 44, is a source of illumination such as an electric light bulb and connection 26, provided with a suitable moisture proof transparent covering 28. The light is likewise provided with suitable connections not shown, to a suitable source of electric power.

A curved deflecting baffle 38 is provided at the upper portion of the spray chamber Hi, the same consisting of an arcuate sheet of metal or the like, having a flange 32 at its upper end whereby the baffle which extends across the entire width of the spray chamber may be secured to the back wall 26 at the uppermost portion thereof as shown clearly in Figure 4. The baiile curves from this upper portion of the back wall, forwardly and downwardly in the chamber is to about the midpoint of the same, the lower end of the battle being inturned upon itself as at it. The side edges of the baffle are of course secured to the side walls of the cabinet in any desired manner. An exhaust or vent pipe 36 extends through the upper portion of the balile 3 3 and upwardly through the top of the cabinet structure, to provide a vent or exhaust means for the spray chamber from the space below the upper part of the baffle. A blower casing 38, see Figures 4 and '7, is provided, the same being mounted upon the interior surface of the back wall as in any desired manner, and this casing is provided with an inlet opening 40 which communicates with the interior of the spray chamber i l beneath the bafile 30. An impeller in the form of a squirrel cage rotor or the like 42 of conventional design, is journaled in the casing 38 and connected with electric motor 24 for operation thereby. The casing has a discharge opening into which extends the lower end of the vent or exhaust pipe 38, the latter constituting the discharge for the blower.

The support grating i2 may consist of a reticulated screen of any desired character, the same being secured upon its marginal edges between upper and lower support bars 4 3 and M suitably attached to the cabinet Iii. A drip basin 48 constitutes a collection means for the cleansing fluid sprayed into the interior of the spray chamber M. This basin is preferably provided with a marginal flange 50 by means of which the same is secured to the lowermost clamping bar 46, the basin iii thus underlying the support grating and extending across the entire area of the cabinet.

At a convenient position, the basin'48 is provided with a discharge or draining means, the same consisting of a depending sleeve 52, which is provided with outwardly extending pins or lugs 52. A detachable filter consisting of an annulus 56 having conventional bayonet slots 58 for releasably engaging the lugs or pins 54 is provided, the ring 56 having a basket of reticulated or metal screen construction depending therefrom. the collection basin 4B and serves to filter or strain the cleansing fiuid collected by the basin before discharging the same downwardly into the drip or drain chamber.

Suitably positioned in the chamber I6 is a cleansing fluid tank 62 into which the drainage from the basin Z8 is discharged. Positioned in the tank 62 below the point of discharge of the cleansing fluid from the basin 48 is a sediment tank 64 of any desired construction, and the same is preferably provided with a filtering screen 66 of any desired construction in its open upper end.

The tank 82 is open at its upper end, and the upper edges of the side walls of the same are flanged or bent inwardly as at 68 to provide upper guide surfaces.

A cover is provided for the tank 52, the same consisting of a stationary section HI, which is fixedly secured to the side walls and within the tank 62 but below the flanges 68, at one end of the tank, as for example to permanently close about one-half of the area of the tank. A movable section in the form of a panel 12 is provided, this movable section being slidably received upon the fixed section T0, when the movable section is in its open position. At its edges, the movable section is rolled upon itself as at 14 to provide tubular members. These tubular rolled portions M are provided with a closing wall- 6 at one end, extending across the entire length of the movable section. Guide rods 18 provided with bolts Sit extend the length of the tank 62 below the flanges 68 and are secured to the end walls of the tank. Compression springs 82 encircle the guide rods #8 and abut against one of the end walls of the tank 62 and against the end wall 16 of the movable section to yieldingly urge this movable section towards its closed position. The movable section slides below and in guided engagement with the flanges 68 and slides upon the This filter is removably secured to top surface of the fixed section 10 and upon lower guideways 84. Figures 2 and 5 disclose the position of the movable section when the same is open against the bias of the spring 82 while Figure 8 shows the parts in a closed position of the movable section.

The forward ends of the movable and fixed sections are provided with depending lugs or hooks 86 and 88, which as shown in Figure 2 are adapted to be connected together as by a fusible link of any desired construction, indicated at 90.

It will thus be seen that the movable section is spring urged to its closed position to completely close the top of the cleaning fluid tank 62 to prevent communication of the same with the interior of the cabinet. However, the movable section is retained in open position by engagement of the fusible link 9% with the two hooks 86 and 88. When the temperature within the cabinet exceeds a safe value, as when a fire starts or the like, the fusible member will melt thereby permitting the spring 62 to close the movable section of the cover.

As shown in Figure 4, a conduit 92 extends into the tank 62 adjacent the bottom of the same and constitutes an inlet for cleaning fluid, this pipe being connected as by a flexible conduit 94 with a feed hose 96. A second flexible hose 98 likewise extends through the front wall of the cabinet, this latter hose being connected on the interior of the cabinet with an air line I00 extending through the cabinet for supplying air under pressure from any suitable source to the device. The flexible hoses 96 and 98 are connected to a conventional form of spray nozzle 32 by means of which a blast of air from the hose 98 and air supply pipe I00 will cause the induction into the nozzle of cleansing fiuid by means of the pipe 92, and conduits 94 and 86, whereby a spray of air and cleansing fluid may be manually directed into the interior of the spray chamber [4 for cleansing the parts or articles placed upon the supporting grill 12. The vapor rising from this spray will be prevented from escaping from the open front of the chamber 14, by means of the ventilating flow induced under the lower edge of bafile 30 by the blower assembly and discharged through the venting conduit 36. The condensate from the spray will drop down upon the grill [2, and be collected in the basin Z8 therebeneath, and be strained by the filter 80 before dropping into the further filter 66 of the sediment tank 64 in the cleansing tank 62. After passing through these filters, the filtered cleansing fiuid will then be recirculated through the spray nozzle as set forth hereinbefore.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device together with its many advantages will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A cleaning device comprising a cabinet having an open front, and upper and lower spray and drip chambers respectively, a blower for withdrawing vapor from the upper end of said spray chamber, a cleansing fluid tank in said drip chamber, drain means between said chambers discharging liquid from said spray chamber into said tank, means for withdrawing cleaning fluid from said tank and spraying the same into said spray chamber, said tank having a cover comprising a fixed section covering a portion of the top of said tank and a Sliding section, resilient means urging said sliding section to closed position, a fusible member connecting said sections and retaining said sliding section in open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 6 Name Date Blair Sept. 14, 1920 Keil Dec. 12, 1922 Curtiss May 21, 1929 Schmidt et a1 May 27, 1930 Anschicks Apr. 25, 1939 Bassett Jan. 5, 1943 Little Jan. 26, 1943 St. Laurence Apr. 27, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia Nov. 23, 1931 

